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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5. Deuteronomy chapter 5. This morning we looked at instructions 
to young mothers specifically. instructions to older women generally. Tonight we're going to review 
the fifth commandment. I know I've preached on it many 
times. It's one that does bear repetition as it affects every 
one of us and it affects all areas of our lives. I want to 
begin reading in Deuteronomy chapter 5 at verse 1. And Moses 
called all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes 
and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you 
may learn them and be careful to observe them. The Lord our 
God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord did not make 
this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here 
today, all of us who are alive. The Lord talked with you face 
to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. I stood 
between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the word 
of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and you did 
not go up the mountain. He said, I am the Lord your God 
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of 
bondage. You shall have no other gods 
before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 
any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is 
in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 
You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord 
your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
the children to the third and fourth generations of those who 
hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love 
me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of 
the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
who takes his name in vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep 
it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall 
labor and do all your work. The seventh day is the Sabbath 
of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you, 
nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your 
female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your 
cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your 
male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 
And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the 
Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and 
by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God 
commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your 
mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your 
days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land 
which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, you 
shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not 
bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not covet 
your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's 
house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his 
donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. These words, the 
Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain, from the midst 
of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice. 
And he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets 
of stone and gave them to me. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
father, we thank you for the written word of God. We thank 
you for your law. and for your gospel, we thank 
you for your graciousness and mercy to us in revealing these 
truths to us, and showing us our own sin by that law, showing 
us our need for the Redeemer, and giving us that faith and 
repentance to close with Jesus Christ. We bless You and we praise 
You for these spiritual blessings that You have poured out upon 
us. And now, Lord God, as we look at this section of Your 
Word, we pray for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We pray that 
we would think properly and clearly concerning these things, that 
Father, as we are able in our homes, in our families, together, 
we would seek by Your grace and for Your glory, to have well-ordered 
families, to have those things that are consistent with the 
revelation of God Almighty in the Old and the New Testaments. 
We ask that you would bless all the parents here, the grandparents, 
give grace to each and every one, and we do pray for our children, 
for our young people, first and foremost, that they would know 
the joy of being found in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they 
would be believers of the gospel of Christ, that they would be 
washed in the blood of the Lamb, saved by grace through faith 
in Christ our Lord. Father, give them hearts of compliance 
toward their parents, give them a desire to bring glory to you 
in that family sphere, and may you just bless richly. Again, 
forgive us for our sins and for our transgressions, and we pray 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we look at the 
Ten Commandments, we notice that there are two tables of the law. 
The first four commandments define our responsibility or our duty 
toward God. And then the last six commandments 
deal with our responsibility or our duty toward man. And it 
is intriguing that the fifth commandment is really the first 
commandment of the second table. And I think there's a close connection 
between the fifth and then those that follow. And I would suggest 
that those who disregard the fifth, those who have no regard 
whatsoever for the honor of their parents, most likely will not 
be the most upright citizens in a society, and murder and 
adultery and thievery and lies and covetousness will ensue. Not every instance, not every 
time, but those who have a problem with authority, those who do 
not submit the way that God calls them to submit, are typically 
the kinds of people that have trouble in this world. The Lord 
God has instituted several authority structures, and I would submit 
that the fifth commandment does not only apply with reference 
to the family, but as well to the commonwealth or the civil 
society that we find ourselves in, also with reference to the 
church, The workplace and we'll sort of look at that as we move 
through this particular commandment tonight in the first place I 
want to look at the statement of the command and look at the 
Explanation the scope of it and then thirdly the sanction related 
to the breaking of the command and then finally look at the 
promise Given there's a promise stated by God. It's expanded 
in the New Testament But notice in Deuteronomy 5 at verse 16 
honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded 
you that your days may be long, and that it may be well with 
you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you." That 
is a promise appended to the statement or to the commandment. 
If you do this, then good things will happen. Again, it's not 
formulaic. There's other things, other circumstances 
that may well be involved. But as a general rule, in God's 
moral universe, When we do what God calls us to do, more often 
than not, blessings ensue. And that's precisely what we 
find, again, this is repeated in the New Covenant or in the 
New Testament, in Ephesians chapter 6, to Gentile children, which 
highlights for us the continuity of the Ten Commandments. Gentile 
children in Ephesus are subject to the Ten Commandments. But 
instead of living long in the land, they'll live long in the 
earth. And so there is that bit of expansion 
under the new covenant, but nevertheless, the same law appeals or applies 
rather to children in the new covenant as it did in the old. 
But in the first place, let's look at the explanation of the 
command, the specific duty. Notice it says, honor your father 
and mother. And this word honor means to 
be ultimately heavy, weighty, burdensome, or honored. The connection 
between heaviness and honor ought to be obvious. treat our parents 
lightly. Rather, we treat them with honor 
and with respect. We realize the gravity of their 
authority and their rule over us. And so these two concepts 
are very closely intermingled. Now, in terms of the connotation 
in this particular passage, it means to make honorable, to honor 
them, or to glorify them. Turn to Leviticus chapter 19 
to see this fleshed out in a little bit more detail, a passage that 
we'll have cause to refer to a couple of times this evening. 
But notice in Leviticus chapter 19 at verse 3, it says, every 
one of you shall notice, revere his mother and his father. And 
interestingly, mother comes first. Father and mother bear equal 
authority with reference to the rearing of their children. It's 
not the case that mother is to be disregarded because she's 
not the head of the household. That is simply untrue and that 
is simply incorrect. The mother is to be revered along 
with the father as the authority structure over the parents. Now, 
back to Deuteronomy chapter 5, there is a connection with God's 
covenant that we see in chapter 4 at verse 40. You can turn to 
Deuteronomy chapter 4 and see verse 40. It says, You shall 
therefore keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command 
you today, that it may go well with you and with your children 
after you. and that you may prolong your 
days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all 
time." Essentially, what you have in the book of Deuteronomy 
are several addresses by Moses to the people of Israel. Remember 
that God had promised to give Israel tenure in the land of 
Canaan. And then the people of Israel 
grumbled against God, they whined against God, so God wiped them 
out. For those of you reading, using 
the Robert Murray McShane calendar, you've seen that in your reading 
today. That instance where they grumbled and God sent those fiery 
serpents to bite a whole host of them. They were judged, they 
were punished, and that first generation did not enter into 
the land. So here on the plains of Moab, 
it is the second generation. And so Moses takes this opportunity 
to prepare them to enter into the land. And he does so by a 
series of exhortations, and he repeats for them the law, the 
Decalogue, that which was given at Sinai in Exodus chapter 20. 
So this is the second generation. These are the people that are 
entering into the land. And when we read here in Deuteronomy 
440, we see the purpose of God with reference to life in the 
land for Israel. You shall therefore keep His 
statutes and His commandments, which I command you today, that 
it may go well with you and with your children after you, and 
that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your 
God is giving you for all time." In other words, this is a recipe 
for life in the land. This is a recipe for life under 
God's covenantal order. This is the way they were supposed 
to conduct themselves. They were supposed to be obedient. 
One commentator, Craigie, says, the close parallel between these 
words, the fifth commandment, and Deuteronomy 440, indicates 
that the basic issue involved in the commandment was the continuity 
of the covenant. He goes on to say, parents were 
responsible to teach their children concerning the covenant, and 
by so doing, both children and parents would prosper in the 
land and see the fulfillment of the covenant promise of God. 
But to teach effectively, there must be a receptive audience. 
In other words, it's difficult to teach people that are not 
paying attention. It's difficult to teach people 
that aren't honoring the teacher. It's difficult to teach people 
that aren't respecting the teacher. And so this is one of the purposes 
for the fifth commandment, is to lay upon these children the 
burden and the responsibility of taking seriously the law of 
God as it comes through parental authority. He goes on to say, 
if children did not honor their parents and were rebellious and 
self-centered, they would not be able to learn about the covenant 
relationship with God, which had been so central to the lives 
of their parents. And as a consequence of dishonoring 
their parents, they would not prosper in the promised land, 
for they would not know intimately the Lord of the covenant promise. 
And so this is instituted for that stability and so that the 
instruction concerning Yahweh could be passed down from generation 
to generation. Christopher Wright says, just 
as the fourth commandment does not merely describe a cultic 
taboo day, but governed Israel's social and economic life as a 
whole society under God, So here the fifth commandment forms part 
of the structure and fabric of Israel's covenant relation with 
God and is not merely a recipe for happy families. There was 
a lot riding on the fifth commandment. Again, not just simply a recipe 
for a happy family, not just a recipe for well-adjusted children, 
but for possession and tenure in the land that Yahweh had covenanted 
to give to them. The Old Covenant was conditional. The Old Covenant commanded. And 
if one didn't respond favorably or obediently, then there were 
sanctions attached to it. And in the case of Israel, that 
grand sanction was expulsion ultimately from the land because 
they didn't do these things. They didn't honor their parents. 
They didn't revere mother and father. In fact, this is cited 
in the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 22 verses 7 and 15 as one of 
the causes, among many, of the reason why Israel went into exile. You see this emphasis on obedience 
to parents referenced in the New Testament at several instances 
in what are called vice lists. In Romans chapter 1, in 1 Timothy 
chapter 1, in 2 Timothy, where it describes sort of the last 
days, 2 Timothy chapter 3. You see that disobedience to 
parents is mentioned in those particulars as well. It's not 
an innocuous thing. It is not a harmless thing. It 
is not a low-level item. It is something absolutely crucial 
for any society of persons. So, with reference to the explanation 
of the command, we ought to observe the other references. Look at 
Exodus 21. Exodus chapter 21. Just to flesh this commandment 
out and to see how it appears oftentimes in Scripture. excuse me, Exodus 21 15, he who 
strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Verse 17, and he who curses his 
father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Again, I think 
that shocks moderns, it shocks our delicate sensitivities. We 
think, horror of horrors, how in the world could ever God ever 
command such a thing like this? Well, I think there's a biblical 
or a rationale in terms of if children won't receive parental 
authority, if they will reject parental instruction, they're 
probably not going to do well with other forms of authority 
and with other types of instruction in society as a whole. Leviticus 
19, verse 3, I've already referred to that. We can appeal to it 
once again. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his 
father. And then again in chapter 20, 
that verse 9 in the book of Leviticus, for everyone who curses his father 
or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his 
father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him. 
Now, in the book of Proverbs, it is emphasized many, many times. I just want to look at a few 
of the salient ones. Notice in Proverbs at 1520. Proverbs chapter 
15 at verse 20, a wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish 
man despises his mother. Proverbs 17 and verse 25, a foolish 
son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore 
him. Proverbs 19 and verse 13, a foolish 
son is the ruin of his father and the contentions of a wife 
are a continual dripping. Proverbs 19 verse 26, he who 
mistreats his father and chases away his mother is a son who 
causes shame and brings reproach. And then Proverbs 30 at verse 
17. Proverbs 30 at verse 17, the 
eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother, 
the ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young eagles 
will eat it. Now, turn over to the New Testament. 
The New Testament amplifies, or rather reiterates, this commandment, 
again, in the context of a Gentile church. There are those out there 
that teach that the Ten Commandments are not abiding for the Gentile 
church. That's simply incorrect. It's 
simply untrue, because the Apostle Paul tells us that the Ten Commandments 
are abiding to the Gentile Gentile and Jewish Church, the people 
of God, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, are subject 
to the Ten Commandments. Not nine of them, not eight of 
them, not seven of them, not the ones that we like, not the 
ones that we prefer, not only the ones that are repeated in 
the New Testament, but the entirety of the Ten Commandments. How 
do we know that? Because it reflects who God is. There is a trans-covenantal utility 
to the Decalogue or to the Ten Commandments. That means wherever 
men are, whether Jew or Gentile, whatever age they live in, whether 
Old or New Covenant, they are subject to the abiding law of 
God. In total, all Ten Commandments, 
including the Fourth Commandment, even the Sabbath. But here specifically 
in Ephesians chapter 6 at verse 1, Paul says, children, obey 
your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father 
and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that 
it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth. And 
you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring 
them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Read verse 4 there, 
because I think the fifth commandment not only includes the responsibility 
of inferiors, but it also includes the responsibility of superiors. And I'm going to explain that 
in just a moment. But then over at Colossians 3, 
which is very parallel to Ephesians 6, you see this reiterated once 
again. Colossians 3, verse 20, children, obey your parents in 
all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, 
do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. When we look at these particular 
passages in the New Testament, the word obey means precisely 
what it says. It means precisely what it says. 
Kids, you're supposed to obey your parents. Now, whenever we 
talk about inferiors and superiors and submission and obedience, 
we always must make the necessary qualification. If a superior 
tells an inferior to sin, that is a time when the inferior may 
lawfully not obey. Remember in Acts chapter 5 at 
verse 29, the disciples were prohibited by the Sanhedrin from 
preaching the gospel. And they said, we must obey God 
rather than men. So if a parent instructs a child 
to sin, the child may lawfully not obey that particular command. 
But in anything not commanded as sin, the child is bound to 
obey their fathers and mothers. There's no wiggle room here. 
Not if you feel like it. There's no qualification that 
they'll be pie if you actually do what you're... That's not 
the case. You need to obey. You need to submit. You need 
to be subordinate to the authority that God has placed over you. 
You must revere mother and father as God commands. Now, with reference 
to the New Testament sort of passages, it means to honor or 
reverence them. It means to have a right attitude 
toward them and to express gratitude for them. I mentioned this morning, 
if one time a year is the only time of the year that you thank 
your mother for all that she does, you need to repent and 
you need to reorient your life and you need to readjust the 
way that you function and maneuver. As well, you need to provide 
for their material needs in their old age. Look at Matthew 15 for 
just a moment. Matthew 15, two passages here 
that I want to look at in terms of this responsibility for children, 
adult children, to provide for their parents in their older 
age. And I'm not just saying this as one who's getting closer 
to old age and I want my kids to all hear this sermon. put 
away some do-re-mi for me. But if they want to, that's good. 
I often thought my sons would be my retirement program. Just 
send them out to get good jobs and make lots of money and have 
a basement suite for at least their dear mother. I'll go live 
under a bridge somewhere. Notice what we find in Matthew 
15. There's a despair this debate 
between Jesus and the religious leaders Look at verse 1 chapter 
15 then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came 
to Jesus saying Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the 
elders for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread? He 
answered and said to them Why do you also transgress the commandment 
of God because of your tradition? Now notice that Jesus invokes 
here the fifth commandment. Jesus assumes the abiding validity 
of the ten commandments. You see that throughout his ministry. 
You see that in his being, in his DNA, in his humanity. You 
see that commitment to the law of God. He is challenging them. He is challenging the religious 
authorities. And he says, why do you also transgress the commandment 
of God because of your tradition? For God commanded saying, honor 
your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, 
let him be put to death. Intriguingly, that he also cites 
the sanction involved. He not only cites the prohibition 
or the requirement of the command that you honor your father and 
your mother, but he also cites the penal sanction attached to 
the violation of the command when he says, he who curses father 
or mother, let him be put to death. Verse 5, but you say, 
whoever says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might 
have received from me is a gift to God. Then he need not honor 
his father or mother. Thus you have made the commandment 
of God of no effect by your tradition. Now, without getting too far 
afield, essentially what Christ is doing is He is indicting them 
for a custom that had arisen among these religious leaders 
to bypass care for their parents, money that should have gone to 
their parents, they designated as Corban, which meant dedicated 
to the Lord. So it has the guise of piety. It looked really holy. We're 
going to dedicate this to the Lord, not to you, mom and dad. Now, there are passages that 
certainly highlight God comes before parents. That's not what's 
happening here. This is not tithing. This is 
not the duty or the obligation to give to God of your first 
fruits, but rather it is in addition to that. And so in order to look 
pious, to look holy, but to ultimately serve themselves, they would 
dedicate this Corbin to God's house and not give it to their 
own parents. Now, I don't need to remind you 
that these religious leaders made their living off of what 
was dedicated in terms of Corban. It was an indirect way of putting 
money back into their own pockets, but it looked so pious, and it 
looked so holy, and it looked so godly. He says you've invalidated 
the very commandment of God by this Corban practice that is 
actually a means by which you slight your parents. You don't 
honor them, you don't give to them, you don't care for them, 
but rather you indirectly make the money find its way back into 
your own pocket. So Jesus assumes the validity 
of the fifth commandment and utilizes it to highlight that 
these persons were in violation of it. And then turn over to 
1 Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy chapter 5, we looked 
at that a little bit this morning. But in 1 Timothy chapter 5, it 
is intriguing. Paul there dealing, like he does 
in Titus 2, with the various people groups in the context 
of a local church. In 1 Timothy 5.3, notice what 
he says, honor widows who are really widows. The honor there 
doesn't mean to esteem them or to speak well of them or to give 
them a special parking spot. It means to give them money. 
It means to cough up. It means to take dough from the 
church and give it to them so that they can buy food, so that 
they can maintain their sustenance, so that they can live and thrive 
and move and have their being. When Paul deals with elders in 
1 Timothy 5.17, when he says, honor elders who rule well, or 
double honor to elders who rule well. It doesn't mean parking 
spots. It doesn't mean, you know, gold-plated sort of signs on 
their doors. It means money. It means pay 
them. And in 1 Timothy 5, 3, he says, honor widows who aren't 
really widows. But if any widow has children 
or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and 
to repay their parents, for this is good and acceptable before 
God. You see, the church is not the first obligation in terms 
of the church's obligation isn't first with reference to caring 
for widows. It's family. It's children and 
grandchildren. What's the assumption? That adult 
children, that adult grandchildren are going to esteem, revere, 
respect, honor, and love their parents enough to have a basement 
suite, to make sure that their parents continue to eat, to make 
sure that their their widowed mother or grandmother doesn't 
have to eat cat food in order to eke out a life. You see, the church has a responsibility 
after the family. And so this commandment doesn't 
cease when you leave your house. Rather, you're always supposed 
to give this to your parents. Now, in terms of the scope of 
the command, I use the language of superiors and inferiors, and 
I realize that may be offensive in this modern politically correct 
climate. The idea of a superior or an 
inferior, wow, aren't we all equal? Well, yeah, we are all 
equal metaphysically. We are all equal in terms of 
being. We are all equal as we come from 
the hand of the Creator as creature. But in terms of position, in 
terms of office, in terms of... place of prestige, there is difference 
among persons in a civil society. And with reference to this, I 
think the Westminster Larger Catechism defines it well. It 
says, who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment? 
Answer, by father and mother in the fifth commandment are 
meant not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and 
gifts, and especially such as, by God's ordinance, are over 
us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth." 
So you see, the commandment is not only for kids toward their 
parents. All of us are under the obligation 
to keep the fifth commandment. All of us find ourselves in a 
position where we are inferiors to a superior, and we must honor 
and revere them, and we must respect and obey them. That's 
just life in God's world. He doesn't make us islands unto 
ourselves. He doesn't make us autonomous. 
He doesn't make us independent, but he puts us in and I'm gonna 
use the language of the modern church in a way that's overworked, 
he puts us in community. And in community, there are certain 
moral obligations as we function one toward another. There are 
superiors and there are inferiors, and we need to embrace that. 
Now, as you look at the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy chapter 
five, or you look at Sinai in Exodus chapter 20, the primary 
audience there was adults. Now certainly kids were present 
and certainly kids would hear from this, but in terms of this 
fifth commandment, it never terminated upon children's obedience to 
their parents. It included that, but it also 
included, as we've seen the family, it includes the workplace. Turn 
back to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6, you have 
this superior and inferior relationship in the workplace. Again, I hope 
none of you think superior means this guy's great and the inferior 
is not. It just means those who have a higher position, those 
who have superiority in age and gifts and possibly position, 
place, office, things of that nature. But notice in the workplace 
in Ephesians 6 at verse 5, Bondservants, be obedient to those who are 
your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, 
in sincerity of heart as to Christ. Not with eye service as men-pleasers, 
but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the 
heart, with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men, 
knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same 
from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you masters, 
do the same thing to them, giving up threatening. knowing that 
your own master also is in heaven and there is no partiality with 
him. You see what Paul is doing? He's doing something that is 
somewhat common in the Roman Empire. It wasn't just the Christians 
that had these sort of family codes or these lists of ethical 
directives. But Paul takes the commandment 
of God and he weaves that in and he says that this is how 
the structure in the Christian society ought to be in terms 
of the fifth commandment. We've got children to their parents. We've got parents to their children. 
We've got bondservants to their masters. We've got masters to 
their bondservants. You see, this relationship of 
superior and inferior, all of us find ourselves subject to 
someone else. as well in the context of the 
local church. The church officers, the elders 
specifically, are the overseers of the church. Hebrews chapter 
13, you can turn there. Hebrews chapter 13. Again, the 
point isn't, I want a new parking spot. The point is, is that in 
God's world, in the various structures, the various spheres in which 
we find ourselves, there are rules, there are operating procedures. And it occurs to me that when 
parents drop the ball in the home, everybody else suffers. You have to rear your children 
to understand that they'll always be subject to someone else. They can either be compliant, 
disciplined, self-controlled, and well-behaved, Or they can 
be just the opposite and a nightmare to anyone who has to deal with 
that. Parents, we must take seriously the imperative involved in the 
Fifth Commandment and enforce the reality that our children 
are to honor, and they are to revere, and they are to respect. 
Because they're going to grow up and be members of the body 
politic, which we're going to see in just a moment. They're 
going to be members in local churches. They're going to be 
employees. If you have not taught them how 
to work, if you have not taught them to respect, if you have 
not taught them how to get out of bed, if you have not taught 
them how to show up, if you have not taught them that, they're 
going to be miserable employees to employers. And as I've often 
said in this pulpit, if our kids are reared to just show up on 
time and not steal from their employers and do a decent day's 
work, they're going to be running the country before long. Because 
the bar has been so drastically lowered that people are awarded 
for just showing up consistently at work. That should just be 
the way it is. You shouldn't get presents or 
prizes or rewards for just showing up. But that's the environment 
that we find ourselves in. So parents, if you take seriously 
the mandate with reference to the Fifth Commandment, and you 
bring up your children the way that God says, they're going 
to be CEOs. They will be your retirement 
program. Speaking practically, to be sure. 
Now notice, with reference to the eldership in the context 
of the local church, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 7. And then 
again in verse 17. Obey those who rule over you 
and be submissive. We know this is in the context 
of the church. For they watch out for your souls 
as those who must give account. It's not dealing in the civil 
realm. Civil magistrate doesn't care about your soul. His job 
doesn't have anything to do with your soul. Unfortunately, this 
is being blurred as well. We've got a government today 
that does want to look after the soul. The government wants 
to be involved in every jot and diddle of your life. We ought 
to resist that on a theological basis. It's the church that is 
the ministry of the agency that is tasked with the souls of men. 
The civil state has as their particular purpose the punishment 
of evildoers in a civil society, not the maturation and the growth 
of people in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's 
the job of the church. So in Hebrews 13, 17, "...obey 
those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out 
for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so 
with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable 
for you." In other words, try to make their job a little bit 
more pleasant, and you'll benefit as a result from that. And then 
in terms of the Commonwealth, or in terms of the civil society, 
Romans 13 is the classic text. Let every soul be subject, verse 
1, to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except 
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the 
authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist 
will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to 
good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of 
the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from 
the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do 
evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For 
he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices 
evil. Therefore you must be subject, 
not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. For 
because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers 
attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore 
to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom 
customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." Certainly the 
duties of inferiors is set forth very loudly and clearly here. 
Be subject to the governing authority. But I'd argue from the larger 
context of biblical revelation that superiors in terms of the 
civil state have a certain responsibility as well. And though they are 
derelict in that, we nevertheless need to keep up our end of the 
bargain. So that is the scope of the command. And then look 
with me at the sanction related to the command. In the first 
place, the rod and reproof. How do parents enforce the Fifth 
Commandment? The rod and reproof. We see that 
in the book of Proverbs. And by rod, I mean corporal punishment. Now, please don't post this on 
Facebook or on Twitter, because I'll get hauled off and be sent 
away by the powers that be, because this is offensive today. I would 
suggest that it's the lack of that that explains why we need 
metal detectors at schools to make sure kids don't shoot each 
other. It's a travesty what we see today among young people. 
It's a travesty that drug abuse, that pregnancy, that sexual promiscuity, 
that all these things are rampant and rife. Trace it all back to 
the lack of the enforcement of parental authority. Now, again, 
mitigating circumstances, there could be other factors to be 
sure. But brethren, when we laid down the rod, we allowed the 
children to run roughshod. Now, the Bible speaks a different 
tune. The Bible tells us that we are 
to discipline our children. We're not to beat them. We're 
not to abuse them. We're not to take joy in it. 
We're not to hurt them or give them lasting pain and punishment 
and all those sorts of things. But I cited a text this morning 
in Proverbs 13, verse 24. It says, he who spares his rod 
hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. Proverbs 19, verse 18. Proverbs 19, verse 18. Chasten 
your son while there is hope, and do not set your heart on 
his destruction. Proverbs 22, verse 15. Proverbs 22, verse 15. Foolishness 
is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive 
it far from him. Proverbs 23, 13, and 14, do not 
withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, 
he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod and deliver his 
soul from hell. Again, that doesn't mean about the head or in the 
chest or all over his body. God made a particularly appropriate 
place for such things to take place in terms of the physiology 
involved in image bearers. Brethren, we have to take seriously 
the reality that the Fifth Commandment is not up for debate. It's not 
optional. It's not something that, well, 
you know, if you'd like to, you can obey. No, we need to enforce 
this. Again, not as tyrants, not as 
dictators, not as, you know, Mao or Stalin or Hitler or any 
of them. in our homes, but brethren, we 
must ensure compliance with the commandment. Now, a second sanction 
relative to the violation of the fifth commandment is seen 
in Deuteronomy 21. You can turn there. We've already seen it in Exodus 
21. We see it in Leviticus 20. But 
here in Deuteronomy 21, we see a particular example of it. Deuteronomy 
21 at verse 18, notice, if a man has a stubborn and rebellious 
son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of 
his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not 
heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of 
him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate 
of his city. And they shall say to the elders 
of his city, this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He 
will not obey our voice, he is a glutton and a drunkard. Then 
all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones, 
so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel 
shall hear and fear." Now, before you all say, oh, Butler's gone 
off the reservation, he thinks that disobedient kids should 
be executed, just listen to what the text is teaching. And just 
see how it underscores the gravity involved in the fifth commandment, 
something that we oftentimes treat as optional when we wink 
at or when we neglect to or when we are too lazy to actually call 
our children out when they're disobedient to us. God doesn't 
play that game. God knows that if you don't get 
their hearts at a young age, you're not gonna get their hearts. 
Now again, grace, mercy, kindness, blessing, spirit, those other 
mitigating circumstances can certainly involve themselves 
and you can win the hearts of your children. But brethren, 
we need to capture their hearts when they're little. Now in the 
first place, this does not apply to a naughty two-year-old that 
won't eat his peas. It is a rebel adult son. He is 
a drunkard and a glutton. No two-year-old is a drunkard 
and a glutton. As well, this presupposes the 
exercise of parental discipline. Can't blame these parents. You 
can't say, oh, they were terrible. We do that a lot. Oh, look at 
how that kid turned out. Their parents must be terrible. 
Well, notice what it says. If a man is a stubborn and rebellious 
son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of 
his mother and who, when they have chastened him, will not 
heed them. This demonstrates as well the 
state's role with reference to capital punishment. The parents 
bring the child to the elders of the city, the civil government 
relative to that city. This shows the seriousness of 
the Fifth Commandment and the honor that is due to parents. 
And I would suggest that the case highlights something a bit 
more grave. I think the fact that the boy 
or the young man is a glutton and a drunkard, these are symptoms 
of a bigger problem. He is a rebel. He is insubordinate. He didn't listen to Paul. He 
didn't listen to Moses. He didn't honor his parents. 
He didn't revere his parents. He didn't obey his parents. But 
rather, he has disobeyed them, he has not revered them, and 
he has not honored them. Symptoms of this is his pattern 
of drunkenness and his pattern of gluttony. In fact, Craigie 
says that. The latter words, glutton and 
a drunken, do not specify the crime, but indicate, by way of 
example, the kind of life that has resulted from disobedience 
to parental authority. The crime, in other words, is 
disobedience, but the result of the crime is the dissolution 
of a proper style of life. Again, drunkenness and gluttony 
are symptomatic of the bigger issue. He is insubordinate to 
his parents. He doesn't honor them. He doesn't 
revere them. He does not obey them. Now, a 
man by the name of Verne Poythress, who is not what is called a theonomist, 
for those of you who know what that means, you'll understand 
the reference. For those of you who don't know what that means, 
it's okay. But Verne Poitras is not a theonomist. He wrote 
a book called The Shadow of Christ and the Law of Moses. It's an 
explanation to some degree of Old Testament law and how it 
relates to Christ and the gospel. It's a very helpful book. It's 
a very good book. But he says with reference to 
the execution of the incorrigible son here. He says the death penalty 
for wholesale violation of parental authority may seem harsh to modern 
sentiments. But I would argue that it is 
not only just, but realistic. Parental authority, even if very 
imperfectly exercised, takes place in the context of personal 
relationships and natural pressures in the direction of love. Parents 
have many advantages over the state. If a person does not receive 
instruction from parents, the chance of receiving instruction 
from the state's more impersonal discipline are nil. The person 
who rebels in a wholesale fashion against parents will also rebel 
against the state and create general destruction and disorder 
until eliminated. It is mere sentimentality to 
refuse to come to grips with this reality." Again, please 
don't go home and blog or Facebook, Butler advocated the death penalty 
for the incorrigible son. I'm simply reminding you what 
scripture says and looking to underscore the seriousness and 
the gravity of the Fifth Commandment. And that is seen as well, as 
I said, in the reason for the exile in Exodus 22. I'm sorry, 
Ezekiel 22. You can turn there. Ezekiel 22. 
I alluded to this earlier. I want us to see it together. 
This isn't the only sin that produced or brought on the exile, 
but it was certainly a sin. In Ezekiel 22 at verse 7, in 
you, They have made light of father 
and mother. In your midst, they have oppressed 
the stranger. You see that? They have made 
light of. They didn't treat as heavy. They 
didn't honor. They made light of father and 
mother, the same sort of language associated with the fifth commandment. 
If in you, they have made light of father and mother, in your 
midst, they have oppressed the stranger. In you, they have mistreated 
the fatherless and the widow. Verse 15, I will scatter you 
among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and 
remove your filthiness completely from you. You shall defile yourself 
from the sight of the nations, then you shall know that I am 
the Lord. And then as I mentioned, those 
appearances and the vice lists in the New Testament. Turn to 
Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one. Again, just 
to see the gravity of the offense as we bring this to a conclusion. Romans chapter 1 at verse 18, 
and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 
God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which 
are not fitting, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual 
immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, 
murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedient to parents. Undiscerning, untrustworthy, 
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who knowing the righteous judgment 
of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of 
death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who 
practice them. 1 Timothy 1. Again, just see 
its connection relative to the other violations of God's holy 
law. 1 Timothy 1 at verse 8, but we 
know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Knowing 
this, that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for 
the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, 
for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers 
of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for 
kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing 
that is contrary to sound doctrine. according to the glorious gospel 
of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust." I think 
Paul there is reflecting the Ten Commandments, and he is showing 
the most severe form of the breaking of the particular commandment. 
And he speaks of murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers. And then 2 Timothy 3. Verse 1, 
but know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. 
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, 
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, 
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers 
of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather 
than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its 
power, and from such people turn away." I've often thought that 
this is sort of a parallel to Romans 1. Romans 1 deals with 
those in the world. These persons have a profession 
of faith. They say they are godly. They have a form of godliness, 
but they deny its power. You see, the repetitive nature 
of the insistence by God on adherence to the fifth commandment should 
overwhelmingly convince us. Now, it should only be once, 
but it should overwhelmingly convince us of the seriousness 
of it and our responsibility as parents and grandparents to 
enforce the fifth commandment. Now quickly in terms of the promise 
given, the Old Testament statement that your days may be long and 
that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your 
God is giving you. That covenantal connection in 
Deuteronomy 440, tenure in the land would be blessed, it'd be 
great, it'd be wonderful, provided that persons obeyed the stipulations 
involved in the covenant. But in Ephesians chapter 6, Gentile 
children are told that it may be well with you and you may 
live long on the earth. Well, brethren, I hope that we 
will indeed appreciate the seriousness and the gravity of the command, 
that we will embrace the command, and we, by God's grace, will 
enforce that command in our homes to hopefully, under God's blessing, 
produce children that are a blessing. Children are a blessing from 
God. They are a gift given by God. But brethren, they don't 
become a blessing unattended. You have to shape, you have to 
mold, you have to teach, you have to admonish, you have to 
instruct, you have to discipline, you have to reprove. Now, as 
was this morning, so is the evening, we have looked a lot at the law. And I would submit by way of 
conclusion that as inferiors, we have all broken that law, 
and as superiors, we have all broken that law. And the answer 
to a broken law is a merciful Savior. The gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ is the way of salvation. Kids, it's not simply honoring 
your fathers and your mothers that is going to get you into 
heaven. It is belief on the gospel of our Lord Jesus, the reality 
that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we 
might become the righteousness of God in Him. So honor, respect, 
revere, obey, to be sure, but hopefully that flows out of hearts 
that have been redeemed and conquered by the blood of the Lamb. Well, let us close in a word 
of prayer. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for 
your commandments, and we thank you that Even though we broke 
those commandments, you have sent a Savior, you sent a champion, 
you sent a Redeemer in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
One who in the fullness of the times was sent by the Father, 
He was born of a woman, He was born under the law in order to 
redeem those who are under the law. Thank you for so great a 
salvation. Thank you for your great mercy. 
Thank you for the gospel. And thank you, Lord God, that 
as we have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we 
have this desire to do what he calls us to do. And I pray for 
all the parents in this local church, that they would be faithful 
relative to the fifth commandment, as superiors over their children, 
that Father, you would bless our little ones, that you would 
bless our young people, that you would get ahold of their 
hearts and their youth. and that you would cause them to know 
the joy of being in Jesus Christ. We ask now that you would go 
with us, watch over us in this week, help us to bring glory 
and honor and praise unto you. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.